Asylum seekers from Quebec's Roxham Road welcomed into Nova Scotia

Asylum seekers from a controversial border crossing between Canada and the U.S. have arrived inNova Scotia from Quebec.

In an interview with Radio Canada, Labour, Skills and Immigration Minister Jill Balser confirmed that this past weekend, dozens of people who crossed into Canada to Quebec are now in Nova Scotia.

"Just last week the number was 15 [asylum seekers] but the number is now up to 63," Balser said.

After a provincial government cabinet meeting in Halifax on Thursday, Balser updated reporterssaying there are now 113 asylum seekers in Nova Scotia, from Turkey and Pakistan and other countries.

"It is a very fluid situation, as I know many people are aware," she added. "We just have to be ready to respond knowing that there could be an influx of individuals, there might be a few families here and there."

Roxham Road crossesthe Canada-U.S. border between Quebec and New York, and is locatedabout 50 kilometres south of Montreal. It's long been an unofficial border crossing for asylum seekers looking to get into Canada.

Quebec Premier Franois Legault recently wrote a letter published in the Globe and Mail asking other provinces to help with the influx of people crossing at Roxham Road. This followed a similar letter he sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling on him to close the crossing entirely, as he said the asylum seekers were putting strain on the province's public services.

According to Legaultin the letter, the number of crossings by asylum seekers mostly through Roxham Road "exploded" in 2022 with roughly 39,000 irregular entries, in addition to about 20,000 regular entries.

Since then, all the Atlantic provinces have begun welcomingasylum seekers from Quebec.

Balser said the province is going to accept as many asylum seekers as possible without giving a firm number. To facilitate bringing the travellers into the province, Balser said the department is working closely with the federal government and other "settlement partners" to help newcomers adapt to life in Nova Scotia, including connections to job opportunities through work permits.

Agencies including the YMCA, Halifax Refugee Clinic andImmigrant Services Association of Nova Scotiaare helping them, said Balser

She added that people are arriving in Halifax and may choose to settle there, but other communities across Nova Scotia are open to accepting newcomers, as well.

In terms of housing, Balser said community organizations and businesses are stepping up to provide "innovating solutions around housing." For now, the newcomers are staying in hotel rooms which will be covered by the federal government for 60 days.

"We do know that these individuals are fleeing troubling times and persecution, possibly, or natural disasters or even war," she said. "That decision to then uproot your life and move to a new area can be quite hard, so we want to make sure that when folks do choose Nova Scotia and do arrive in our province, that they have the supports and resources that they need and that was our commitment from day one."